I'm hopeless. Smitten. Devoted. Enamored. Fanatical. Infatuated. Wildly in love.
My husband and I will celebrate our 29th wedding anniversary this Sunday, and while I can honestly say that the above list still applies to my love for him (yes, there are times when I look at him and still feel the fluttering of butterflies one would have thought long gone), I'm talking about someone I met just this past summer. She's of average height for her age (which isn't saying much - munchkins would have to look down to see her), thin, bald, and has eight tiny teeth barely poking through her gums. Her only form of communication right now is through facial expressions and strategically-tuned vocals. She can't enunciate words. She can't walk, much less ride a bike or drive a car. She can't even feed herself.
And yet I'm beside myself in her presence. When we're apart, I have to tear myself away from pictures of her and make myself be a mature, responsible adult. It's not easy.
I saw her this past Saturday. At six and a half months, she's into grabbing cheeks and chins and noses. While her mommy fed her dinner, I squatted down beside her chair and let her have her way with me. I didn't care that her little grip actually hurt. She looked at me, couldn't take her eyes off me. Her barely controlled eye/hand coordination was directed at me. I know she was just exploring, but I was in heaven. Since Saturday night, I have called to mind again and again her round little face, her beautiful baby blues, her arm jerkily reaching out to me. Each time I think of it, my heart melts. I could live off that moment for weeks.
Silly, isn't it? I know, and yet I can't help it. I'm so in love that any attention she shows me thrills me.
And it makes me wonder. If in my imperfect love, I feel this way, is it possible that God - in His perfect love - feels this way (and then some) about us? Could it be that His heart thrills when we turn our eyes toward Him, when we reach out to Him, even if it's just to explore His face? Can we even fathom being loved by a God whose heart melts when we look at Him? Can we grasp being loved like that by our Creator? Do we dare believe it?
Go ahead. Look at Him. Dare to believe that He loves you. Dare to believe that you thrill His heart. It will change your life.
My husband and I will celebrate our 29th wedding anniversary this Sunday, and while I can honestly say that the above list still applies to my love for him (yes, there are times when I look at him and still feel the fluttering of butterflies one would have thought long gone), I'm talking about someone I met just this past summer. She's of average height for her age (which isn't saying much - munchkins would have to look down to see her), thin, bald, and has eight tiny teeth barely poking through her gums. Her only form of communication right now is through facial expressions and strategically-tuned vocals. She can't enunciate words. She can't walk, much less ride a bike or drive a car. She can't even feed herself.
And yet I'm beside myself in her presence. When we're apart, I have to tear myself away from pictures of her and make myself be a mature, responsible adult. It's not easy.
I saw her this past Saturday. At six and a half months, she's into grabbing cheeks and chins and noses. While her mommy fed her dinner, I squatted down beside her chair and let her have her way with me. I didn't care that her little grip actually hurt. She looked at me, couldn't take her eyes off me. Her barely controlled eye/hand coordination was directed at me. I know she was just exploring, but I was in heaven. Since Saturday night, I have called to mind again and again her round little face, her beautiful baby blues, her arm jerkily reaching out to me. Each time I think of it, my heart melts. I could live off that moment for weeks.
Silly, isn't it? I know, and yet I can't help it. I'm so in love that any attention she shows me thrills me.
And it makes me wonder. If in my imperfect love, I feel this way, is it possible that God - in His perfect love - feels this way (and then some) about us? Could it be that His heart thrills when we turn our eyes toward Him, when we reach out to Him, even if it's just to explore His face? Can we even fathom being loved by a God whose heart melts when we look at Him? Can we grasp being loved like that by our Creator? Do we dare believe it?
Go ahead. Look at Him. Dare to believe that He loves you. Dare to believe that you thrill His heart. It will change your life.
In order to inspire others about faith, what does it look like if we dare like you challenge us to dare? What does it look like in a person's life if they believe that God truly is crazy about them, has their back, won't let them be destroyed by the enemy, loves them more than they could ever imagine?
ReplyDeleteI have been asking myself this question, not so that I would have a list of things to do in order to prove that I believe, but that I would be inspired to believe.
Maybe we can't answer the question for anyone else but ourselves. That is an interesting thought. Only God's created can answer for themselves what would it be like if we really believed, because only in that answer would we find what the new creation in a person's heart thinks. And if we find that, we find God!